When I was little, my parents provided me with lots of books and games. I played house and chef, and I had imaginary friends. I was constantly given opportunities to be creative and to learn.

One thing that I always remember doing was playing teacher. I would line my stuffed animals up in a row and trap my cat under the clothes hamper, and I would teach them in my room. Their desks were Tupperware boxes, and their classwork was worksheets that I made myself. I would write out a worksheet, and my dad would make copies at his office. I even had a white board that my dad got for me, and Expo markers. I was the real deal. How did stuffed animals complete worksheets? Well, I would hand them out and pretend they were completing them, then I would take them back up and fill in random answers. I would then grade them and hand them back out. Sometimes, I would have my dad or mom complete my worksheets, and that was the most exciting, because that wasn't make pretend, that was actual people completing work that I could grade.

At some point, I veered away from this teaching mindset, and I wanted to be an astronaut. At some point in middle school I went through a crisis when I didn't know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, as if I should've been worrying about that then, and then in high school I wanted to become either a wildlife biologist or a park ranger. I went into college fully thinking that I was going to become a park ranger. I wanted to be one of the park rangers that get to work a lot with school groups to teach them about nature and sampling, because I love to teach people about what I am passionate about. That all changed after my first service project last year. I talked to a park ranger about what all the job consisted of, and she told me that it was mainly law enforcement, which I knew, but had not really thought about. That was not the focus I wanted to have. So, I thought, why not become a teacher if the root of my career choice was a passion for teaching others?

Now, I am on the path to becoming a teacher. I will be certified in 6th-12th grade, with a comprehensive science focus for high school, meaning I can teach not only biology, but physics, chemistry, and environmental sciences as well. I have thought about what drives me towards this career, because I am asked a lot why I want to teach when teachers don't get paid a lot, or why I don't want to become a doctor with my biology degree.

I want to be a teacher because I want to inspire people. I want to be the one to light up a spark in someone. I don't want to be a doctor, I want to be the one to inspire future doctors. I have had so many great teachers that have not only made an impact on my education, but on the way that I treat others and see myself. I want to build relationships with students so that they know I am there for them, that I see the potential in them, and that they can do anything they set their mind to if they give it the effort. I want to teach, because even after all the bad things that have happened in this world, I still believe in the good in people, and I want to bring that good out. I want to make an impact on someone the way that my teachers impacted me.

For a lot of people, teaching middle or high school sounds like a nightmare, but for me, I cannot wait for the day that I have my own classroom and lesson plans. I cannot wait to call roll on that first day, to get to know my students, and to teach them. For some, being a teacher may not be the way they want to make an impact, but for me, it's the way I want to make an impact, and I promise, I'm going to make it a big one.